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V stands for a Vain attempt in an unremarkable writing that deeply lacks nuances in it

Sudheer Babu as Aditya plays a supercop. He models himself as a successful, handsome police officer for the commoners to aspire to be like him. While he fights his criminals, it’s his dance floor. He unleashes his ability to look good while beating the thugs who kills lives. A riot is angled as his ramp. These detailing are deliberately added to rightly convey what it intends to do. And then the time comes for his nemesis to arrive. Nani carries the title V in his name. He challenges everything that Aditya is known for, his skills, his ability to carry the saviour title. It begins as a great plot root to witness an astounding rivalry battle between two arch enemies. But it is sadly reduced to a disappointing action thriller which aims to have every elements of the film at the right amount.
Nani as V gets an intriguing introduction in the film. He cracks his identity when he comes out of a cloud of smoke that of his own cigarette. He is there being glanced upon by the spectators for most of the time. It’s disappointing to see Nani singlehandedly try to enhance his screen space in few scenes that’s written in a criminally moderate format. He seems to have been deprived of some equal counterparts who shares the screen with him to enhance the film. You would wonder if this performance of Nani could be anywhere near with that of Gowtam Tinnanuri’s Jersey (2019).  V finds innovative ways to kill his victims. He eats orange candies. He deliberately leaves trails and clues to lead on Aditya to somewhere which is going to be the biggest revelation in the film. Until this part, the film balances many brainstormed new ideas. We are inclined to think, “Is there a grey side to Aditya’s error-free character?”, “Are these conflicts just out of spite?”, “Is there going to be another layer to the existing conflicts?”. And the second part steadily declines not to fulfill any of the expectation. At one point, Nani’s character V asks to his last victim, “How do we finish this? No one should say it did not match up to their expectations.”. It sadly sounds like a voice from the film writer’s room.

You see everything you have so far seen in the usual action drama films. The usualness or the ordinary is not the problem. But the effort a film takes to leave an impact using its ordinariness is what gauges a film’s success. There is a death of a pregnant lady, there are unpardonable crimes that includes sex trafficking in an orphanage, corrupted government officials and politicians who hide their wrongdoings behind communal clashes. All of these elements are just there for the sake of it to give the film a complete appearance. It becomes very predictable and less moving after a certain point. You don’t sense the blow. The elements like the romance, the revenge and the non-layered straightforward conflicts in the film, they stay just as they. These elements don’t try to be anything other than what meet ones eyes.


 
Nivetha Thomas as Apoorva is bubbly and impressive with her little nuanced expressions. A crime novel writer who is confident in reading her instincts. She is refreshing indeed. But We don’t see more of her. She is there as a rock for Aditya when he deals with his own conflicts but we don’t see hers. Rohini and Thalaivasal Vijay (the pair from the Stri (1995), Adavallaku Mathrame (1994) which is Magalir Mattum in Tamil and many more from the old days), they play Nivetha’s parents and just about it. They share the night of the experience when they conceived Apoorva on her birthday in front of her boyfriend Aditya. We don’t see much of them either too.

Aditi Rao Hydari as Saheba is charming as always. She is sadly reduced to a mere plot device and not much of an character arc that reveals its own conflicts. She works in an artistic crafted furniture store. And to think of that, it seems like it is placed in the film as a live form of simile to compare the elegance of those crafts with Aditi’s beauty. Unfortunately, We don’t get to travel with her much. Nani seems uncollected through out the film. He is nonchalant and it doesn’t work in his favour. Sudheer is an elegant cop who fumbles to compliment a pretty girl at the sight of her. He is direct even when he deals with his dilemma. Vennela Kishore’s clear, witty one liners are tasteful sprinkles that one wants to listen to more. It’s a Mohana Krishna Indraganti film where this team of Sudheer, Aditi joined hands in Sammohanam (2018) which was a treat to cherish. It stayed grounded to its realistic clasps even with some cinematic liberties and which is what exactly missing with V. The film focuses on its thrills and romanticize the revenge and redemption but greatly falls short. Background score by S. Thaman is astounding but that’s not enough to elevate the moderate execution of the film. Amit Trivedi’s songs are pleasant and not hindering the film in any way.

Though the story is constructed in a way to be able to easily reason with Nani, his character arc is simply not convincing. It hugely lacks depth. I wish they concentrated on these weaklings as much as they did with on the creative way to execute murders in the film. The film drags a bit to try to finish of the film with at least a moderate bang that’s particularly reserved for action-thriller dramas. The dynamic between the rivals, Nani and Sudheer, works out sometimes. On the whole, it’s an age-old cliched, revenge drama which falls short to satisfy the elements for a thriller.

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